How Should I Deal with Eczema That Bleeds Easily?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
How much blood does cause the wudu to be nullified? I have a skin disease with eczema around my face which bleeds very easily just from wiping my face. I would complete my wudu and wipe my face with a tissue and see blood on it. Is my wudu still valid?
Also, do I have to remove dried blood on the wounds before performing wudu?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
May Allah, Most High, grant you a quick recovery!
Blood
As long as blood does not flow beyond the point of exit your wudu will remain valid. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]
If your skin has been affected by a wound, it is only when blood exits the skin and starts flowing over the skin beyond the point of exit that your wudu will be nullified. [Ibid.]
As for the blood of a wound where blood is visible and appears at the point of exit, but remains there and doesn’t start flowing over the skin, then this blood is of no consequence for your wudu. This means that your wudu will remain valid despite the presence of this blood. [Ibid.]
Thus I would recommend that you very gently dry the sensitive parts of your skin to avoid any bleeding. As for blood simply showing up at the surface of your skin, you can disregard it completely because this non-flowing blood is of no consequence when it comes to the validity of your wudu.
Important Note
Please note that the blood that you will find on the towel you have used to dry your skin will be deemed pure as long as this blood was not from a wound from which blood was flowing. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) said:
“Wudu is obligatory after any type of flowing blood.” [Daraqutni]
Even though the Hadith above has been criticized by several non-Hanafi scholars, all their objections have been answered in the authoritative work “I‘la al-Sunan” in wich this hadith is deemed to be sound (hassan) and thus fit for being the basis of binding religious rulings. [‘Itr, Manhaj al-Naqd]
Scab
No, you don’t need to remove any scab over your wound for the validity of your wudu. On the contrary, you should allow your wounds to heal properly. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]
Allah, Most High, says: “(Allah) laid upon you no hardship in the religion.” [Quran, 22:78]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching for ways to learn Islam reliably and was disappointed at the answers he found locally.
Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.
He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.
He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
